Stylistically, somewhere between pastoralREM and acoustic Nirvana. The idea behind thelyric is the fantasy of filming a person'sentire 80-year life and watching it in ultrafastmotion so the 80-year span passes as quickly as a dynamite explosion.

[photo by Paul Iorio.]

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RED RIOT

Music and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

Red riotRed riotRed riot Red riot

I went to a riot, an open air riot Everyone was throwing slogansI went to a riot, a socialist riotEverybody took back their homes

Are you saying?(Yes, I am)That you can(Yes, I can)Take back everythingAll that we used to own

Red riot Red riotRed riotRed riot

We took back the tower The crazy clock towerWe rang every bell and chime

Every bell was ringing, everyone was singing It was liberation time

Are you saying?(Yes, I am)That you can(Yes, I can)Take back everythingAll that we used to own

Clashishpunk pop on acoustic guitar. About an imaginary riot/coup. I began writing it during the same solo session that created "Life's Just a Single Blast" (on March 22, 2009) -- and revised and finished it in April.

[photo by Paul Iorio.]

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PARADOXMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

I couldn't seeUntil I was almost blind

I did moreWhen I had far less time

Must start a fire to put out the fire, I knowSometimes you have to walk back to go forward, I know

If you leaveYou'll just arrive instead

I had moreWhen I had far less bread

Inject the infection to stop the infection, I knowMust start a fire to put out the fire, I know

Acoustic pop about everyday paradoxes (e.g., one sometimes has to walk back to go forward, one hasto start a fire to put out a fire, etc.).I wrote this as an instrumental in January '09, but a melody and lyric came to me in March, and it evolved from there.

[photo of Magritte painting by Paul Iorio.]

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PRAY TO THE DEVILMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

(Oy vey, Maria!)

Pray to the devilLike you pray to your godPray to the devilYou'll have the same odds

Pray to the devilPray like you shouldPray to the devilIt'll do ya the same good

Prayin'...Is just wishful thinkim'Prayin'...Is worse for you than drinkin'

Lead us not into temptationUnless it leads to gratification

Pray to the devilPray like you shouldPray to the devilIt'll do ya the same good

Prayin'...The Lord is my schlepperPray orThey'll treat you like a leper

Though I walk through the valley of deathPraying's just a big waste of breath

[spoken]You know, how do you know whether your prayer to God doesn't go to the devil instead? Is there a special exchange for all this, like a phone exchange that gets youto the right party? Is there a limit to how many prayers you can pray per month? Are there rollover prayers?

Prayin'...Is just wishful thinkin', babyPrayin'...Is worse for you than drinkin'

Lead us not into temptationUnless it leads to gratification

Pray to the devil Like you pray to your GodPray to the devilYou'll have the same odds

Pray to the devilPray like you shouldPray to the devilIt'll do you the same goodDo you the same goodDo you the same good

NOTES ON "PRAY TO THE DEVIL": Lyrics sort of in the spirit of XTC's "Dear God," music sort of in the style of Johnny Cash. I wrote it in April '09.

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BANNED MUSICMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

It started out a daring kind of dreamin'I risk therefore I am

We took the train to Villa MontecitoTo a no man's land

I was warned About the borderI was told don't go

But after VillaMontecitoCouldn't stop the adrenaline flow

I'm going past some barbed wireI'll travel anywhere I want to

They tell me it'sA tough crossingThey'll shoot me if they really want to

ah ahh ahhh

I'm listening to Cem KaracaAnd an exiled singer from the Balkans

They tell me it's banned musicThey'll confiscate it if they want to

ah ahh ahhh

Deep in the forbidden zoneWhere you're not supposed to goCan't get nothin' on my phone

thing inspired by the time when I was in Istanbul and bought an album by Turkish rocker Cem Karaca that had been virtually bannedby the government there. The very nervous guy who sold it advised me not to show it around when I crossed the border behind the Iron Curtain(it was '76 and I was an adventurous teenager!).I wrote the track last month, combining five musical fragments I'd come up with.

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ITHINK MY PHONE IS TAPPEDMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

I think my phone is tappedI think my phone is tappedHow you know about what I just rapped?I think my phone is tapped

Rumors keep goin'Around and around nowRumors keep goin' Around and around nowRumors keep goin' aroundAround and around nowI think my phone is tapped

Smash the phone with my guitarBreak it up with an iron barSmash the phone with my guitarI think my phone is tapped

I think my phone is tappedI think my phone is tappedHow you know about what I just rapped?I think my phone is tapped

Rumors keep goin' Around and around nowRumors keep goin'Around and around nowI think my phone is tapped

I think my phone is tapped I think my phone is tappedHow you know about what I just rapped?I think my phone is tapped

I think my phone is tapped I think my phone is tappedHow you know about what I just rapped?I think my phone is tapped

NOTES ON "I THINK MY PHONE IS TAPPED":A folk/punk sort of thing. I think a lot of people, every now and then, suspect, justifiably or not, that their own phone has been tapped by someone. But I don't thinka song has been written about the subject --so I've stepped up to the plate!

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YOU CAN SEE IT FROM SPACEMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

You can see the love that's so huge between usYou can see the love, it don't take no geniusYou can see the love

You can see it from spaceYou can see it from space (space!)

You can see love from space (my love)You can see it from space

The sky's as black as the sky on the moon at mid-dayThe sky's as black as the sky on the moon at mid-day

Come on down to the Broadway side of the Upper West Side To see the glow of the moodlight

Come on down to the Broadway side of the Upper West Side To see the glow of the moodlight

A pop/rap hybrid partly inspired by aconversation I once had with moonwalkerAlan Bean, who vividly described his walk on the lunar surface, saying the sky on the moon is the purest black imaginable. It's also about someone whose love is so obvious that you can see it from space.

[photo by Paul Iorio.]

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WAR SUITEMusic and lyrics by Paul IorioCopyright 2009

I lost my legFor no reasonFor a war that had no meaning at all

I lost my leg For no reason For a war that had no meaning at all

No meaning at all

I fought a war that was a total disgraceIt made the world a less safe place

I fought a war that was a waste of my timeHad no reason or rhyme

I was born the son of a man who foughtA war he never really boughtHe wished the government had told him moreBefore he joined the Vietnam War

I wasted all my life for that Iraq warStill don't know what good it was for

Well, there are some wars that are justifiedBut not if you're dying for a lie

I fought a war that was a total disgraceIt made the world a less safe place

I fought a war that was a waste of my timeHad no reason or rhymeJust a waste of my time

track -- half gospel, half Old West -- written in the voice of a disabled war vet who regrets having fought a war that made the world less safe. I came up with this one on April 11, 2009, and revised it for a couple weeks.